TALLAHASSEE, FLORIDA — The Florida Senate passed a bill on March 6, 2026, that would impose a $50,000 civil penalty on trucking companies whose vehicles are driven by undocumented immigrants, with trucks impounded until the penalty is paid or bond is posted.

The proposal, SB 86, passed on a 29-5 vote and was sponsored by Sen. Don Gaetz, R-Niceville. It came in direct response to a deadly crash last August on Florida's Turnpike in St. Lucie County, in which semi-truck driver Harjinder Singh, a native of India, allegedly attempted a U-turn and caused a crash that killed three people. Singh had been issued a standard commercial driver's license in Washington state in 2023 and subsequently a non-domiciled CDL in California.

"The purpose of the bill is to remove imminent hazards from our highways and to discourage those who would use illegals to operate commercial vehicles in Florida," Gaetz said.

Under the measure, law enforcement officers would be directed to take truck drivers determined to be undocumented immigrants into custody and transfer them to federal immigration officials. Trucks driven by undocumented immigrants would be impounded until the $50,000 civil penalty is paid or bond is posted. The Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles could also issue a service order prohibiting the carrier from operating commercial vehicles in the state altogether.

The House version of the bill, HB 1247, has not yet advanced with one week remaining in the regular legislative session. Florida law already declares invalid any driver's license issued by another state to an individual unable to prove lawful presence in the U.S., and the state is already prohibited from issuing a CDL to anyone who is not a Florida resident.

Governor Ron DeSantis, speaking in Yulee on Thursday, noted that Florida and the Trump administration are working to prevent states from issuing driver's licenses in foreign languages. "How ridiculous is it that you're doing this and you can't even read the street signs," DeSantis said. On February 6, the state Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles ended exams for most non-commercial driver classifications in Spanish and Haitian Creole.

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